JAMESTOWN, NY — Cancer patients in Jamestown and Chautauqua County now have access to the newest and most innovative cancer therapies, thanks to an affiliation between Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) and a respected oncology practice here. Through their recent alliance, Jamestown Medical Oncology Hematology LLC (JMOH) and RPCI have formalized and enhanced a partnership with a practice that began 16 years ago when Jairus Ibabao, MD, who is board-certified in internal medicine, medical oncology and hematology, began providing services to patients in the Jamestown area.

Under the agreement, JMOH will continue to operate from the same location, 21 Porter Ave., Jamestown, as a Roswell Park community cancer practice. The office’s 12 full-time employees include a certified oncology nurse practitioner, a certified oncology nurse, two other registered nurses, a practice manager, a medical technologist, a medical assistant, two medical billers and two administrative assistants. It’s anticipated that by year-end, some Roswell Park physicians will also be providing care at the facility and that onsite consultations with RPCI surgeons will be available.

“We’re especially pleased to be able to offer our patients access to the most innovative therapies available,” said Dr. Ibabao, who is Medical Director of the practice and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Oncology at RPCI. “Our enhanced affiliation with Roswell Park means that the patients we see in Jamestown will be able to take advantage of RPCI’s advanced therapies and approaches — not only in terms of chemotherapy protocols and clinical trials that we’ll be able to offer onsite, but with the expertise and leading technology available at Roswell Park for specialized therapies in medical oncology, radiation, minimally invasive surgery and reconstructive surgery. These are tremendous resources that are likely to significantly improve outcomes for our patients.”

The practice is a state-of-the-art facility equipped with an electronic medical record system, computerized pharmacy, sophisticated chemotherapy equipment, individual chemotherapy treatment and injection rooms and a CLIA-certified phlebotomy laboratory so that patients can get blood-test results, including tumor-marker testing, performed without the delays involved in having to seek testing at another location.

“We’ve always valued our relationship with Dr. Ibabao and his outstanding staff, and we welcome this opportunity to make the full resources of our comprehensive team available to patients in Jamestown and throughout Chautauqua County,” said Alex Adjei, MD, PhD, FACP, Senior Vice President of Clinical Research and Katherine Anne Gioia Chair in Cancer Medicine at RPCI.

Jamestown Medical Oncology Hematology was founded in 2000 by Dr. Ibabao. Services available at JMOH include medical oncology consultations, hematology consultations, chemotherapy infusions, immunotherapy treatments, bone marrow biopsy and aspiration, genetic testing and counseling and cancer screening. For more information, including a complete listing of services, please go to http://www.jmoh.net.

The mission of Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) is to understand, prevent and cure cancer. RPCI, founded in 1898, was one of the first cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and remains the only facility with this designation in Upstate New York. The Institute is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers; maintains affiliate sites; and is a partner in national and international collaborative programs. For more information, visit RPCI’s website at http://www.roswellpark.org, call 1-877-ASK-RPCI (1-877-275-7724) or email askrpci@roswellpark.org.